Method and device for machining cylindrical hollow bodies

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method for producing or machining a work piece in the form of a cylindrical hollow body, especially a container (an outer wall of a container), a barrel or a cask. According to the inventive method, the work piece is held so that the longitudinal axis thereof is oriented vertically and is then machined, especially formed, edged and provided with beads, a bottom and a lid. The method is characterised in that the work piece is moved at the transfer level and is lowered into a working area of a machining device, especially a shaping machine, for machining. The machining device is arranged underneath the transfer level.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 ofPCT/DE00/00729, filed Mar. 8, 2000.

The present invention relates to a method for producing or machining awork piece in the form of a cylindrical hollow body, especially acontainer (a wall of a container), a barrel or a cask, whereby the workpiece is held such that the longitudinal axis thereof is orientedvertically and then machined in this orientation, especially formed,edged, and provided with beads, a bottom and a lid. The inventionfurthermore relates to a device for producing or machining a work piecein the form of a cylindrical hollow body, especially a container (a wallof a container), a barrel or a cask, having a transfer apparatus formoving the work piece, and a machining apparatus for producing ormachining the work piece, especially an apparatus for forming, edgingand providing with beads, a bottom and a lid, and with means for holdingthe work piece during the machining process in an orientation in whichthe longitudinal axis of the work piece is oriented vertically. Themachining takes place on one or more, or preferably simultaneously onboth front edges of the work piece. The machining may consist ofgrooving, edging or attaching a lid or bottom. For example, adrum-shaped metal shell or a wall of a container serving as a packagingcontainer for any random filled-in contents with a loosely insertedbottom and lid may be firmly closed, with the closing process consistingof cold forming or warm forming in such a way that projecting metaledges are connected to one another, or formed and folded together.

In devices according to the preamble, in which the center axes of thework pieces are oriented vertically during the production or processingor forming, a transportation or transfer line is located underneath themachining apparatuses in such a way that the work pieces that are to bemachined are moved by the transportation apparatus or by hand into theworking area of the tools that are arranged or hanging above it.

The known method has the shortcoming that the heavy tools and driveassemblies must be mounted to portals having the appropriate loadcapacities, which results in considerable expenditures.

It is the object of the present invention to render a method accordingto the preamble, or a corresponding device, simpler and more costeffective.

With regard to method, this object is met in a method according to thepreamble in such a way that the work piece is moved within a transferlevel and lowered into a working area of a machining apparatus,especially a forming machine, that is arranged underneath the transferlevel, for the machining process. This permits the heavy driveassemblies and forming tools to be mounted advantageously near theground, while a light-weight transfer apparatus for moving the workpieces is located above them.

The work piece is lowered for the machining process with itslongitudinal axis oriented vertically, and moved within the transferlevel with its longitudinal axis oriented vertically. The work piece maybe machined in the machining apparatus from the inside and/or from theoutside. The work piece may be machined in the machining apparatus alongits entire axial length or along a portion thereof. The work piece maybe lowered and machined in stages.

The work piece may be lifted after a machining step and moved back intothe transfer level, with the work piece undergoing a number of machiningsteps (lowering, machining and lifting) in a plurality of machiningapparatuses. The work piece may be moved past selected machiningapparatuses without being machined. Work pieces or containers may bemanufactured noncircular or conical, and work pieces may be manufacturedof sheet metal, multilayered sized cardboard (fiber) or multilayeredmetal-plastic sheets.

With regard to the device, the object of the invention is met with adevice according to the preamble that is characterized in that thetransfer apparatus is arranged vertically above the machining apparatusand designed such that a work piece that is to be machined can belowered into a working area of the machining apparatus. The transferapparatus may move and/or lower the work piece with its longitudinalaxis oriented vertically.

The machining apparatus advantageously machines the work piece from theinside and/or from the outside especially in such a way that it edgesthe work piece on both sides, or edges it on one side and flanges it onthe other side. The machining apparatus preferably provides the workpiece with rolled beads and/or reinforcing beads.

A plurality of machining apparatuses may be arranged in series.

The invention will be explained in more detail below, based on a drawingin which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 serve to schematically illustrate a container that is tobe machined;

FIG. 3 schematically shows an inventive device;

FIG. 4 schematically shows a known device wherein a work piece ismachined with its longitudinal axis oriented vertically;

FIG. 5 schematically shows a known device wherein a cylindrical workpiece is machined with the work piece axis oriented horizontally, and

FIG. 6 is a top view of a known forming tool.

FIG. 1 shows a rounded wall of a container that is closed with alongitudinal weld or a longitudinal fold and may consist of sheet steelor some other sheet metal, but also of fiber (multilayered sizedcardboard) or multilayered metal-plastic sheets. FIG. 2 shows acylindrical container with a longitudinal axis 1 made from the containerwall shown in FIG. 1, said container having a cylindrical container wall4 provided with rolled beads 2 and reinforcing beads 3, and a bottom 5.

FIG. 4 shows, in a schematic illustration, a container productionmachine, in which the center axis or longitudinal axis 1 of a containerstands vertically during the forming or production, with the containerwall 4 lifted, for the forming process, by a transfer apparatus 7 or byhand into the working area of a machining tool 8 hanging from a portalabove the transfer apparatus.

FIG. 5 illustrates a further known manufacturing method for containerswhereby a container wall 4 with a horizontal longitudinal axis 1 ismachined, whereby tools 8 a machine the container wall 4 from theinside, and tools 8 b machine the container wall from the outside sothat beads, for example, may be formed.

FIG. 3 explains the inventive method based on a device wherein the workpieces or the container walls 4 with the vertically orientedlongitudinal axis 1 can be lowered by a transfer apparatus 7 betweenforming tools 8 a, 8 b arranged on a machine bed 10.

Depending on the shaping to be performed, the lowering may take placewith the full length of the container wall, or in stages, via partsthereof. The drive assemblies and forming tools are located just abovethe ground, while the light-weight transportation or transfer apparatus7 is arranged above the machine. A plurality of forming machines may bearranged in series, and the individual machines may be designed for adouble-sided edging (upsetting of the edge), one-sided edging andflanging (rolling of the edge) on the other side, press-forming of anynumber of rolled beads in various positions on the container wall, rollforming of any random number of reinforcing beads in differentpositions, lock-seaming bottoms and/or lids, or welding on lids. Thecontainers or container walls that are moved in the transportationdirection (arrow 12) on the transfer apparatus 7 are lowered (arrow 14)over the tools of the given machines and, after the forming ormachining, lifted back onto the transfer apparatus. Individual formingmachines may be bypassed and skipped for the manufacture of differentcontainer or container wall shapes.

The container wall guide elements are simpler and less complicated inthe inventive design (lowered forming level), and also permit theforming of non-circular or conical container walls.

FIG. 6 shows an example from the prior art (EP 0 356 269) for a designof the forming tools 8 a, 8 b used in the device. The device has aroller 32 and a counter roller 31, with the two rollers createdcomplementary to one another and the counter roller 31 mountedstationary. The roller 32 is held pivotable around a pivot point 37. Theouter surfaces of the rollers are assembled from a number of ring-shapeddisks 33 a, 35 a, 35 b.

List of Reference Numerals  1 Longitudinal axis  2 Rolled bead  3Reinforcing bead  4 Container wall  5 Bottom  7 Transfer apparatus  8Machining tool  8a, 8b Machining tools 10 Machine bed 12 Transportationapparatus 14 Lowering apparatus 31 Counter roller 32 Roller 33a, 35a,35b Ring-shaped disks 37 Pivot point

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for producing or machining a work piecein the form of a cylindrical hollow body (4), especially a container (awall of a container), a barrel or a cask, whereby the work piece (4) isheld such that the longitudinal axis (1) thereof is oriented verticallyand then machined in this orientation, especially, formed, edged,provided with beads, a bottom and a lid, characterized in that the workpiece (4) is moved within a transfer level and lowered into a workingarea of a machining apparatus, especially a forming apparatus (8 a, 8b), for machining, that the work piece undergoes a plurality ofmachining steps (lowering, machining and lifting), one after the other,in a plurality of machining apparatuses, and that the work piece ismoved past at least one selected machining apparatus without beingmachined.
 2. A method for producing or machining a work piece in theform of a cylindrical hollow body (4), especially a container (a wall ofa container), a barrel or a cask, whereby the work piece (4) is heldsuch that the longitudinal axis (1) thereof is oriented vertically andthen machined in this orientation, especially, formed, edged, providedwith beads, a bottom and a lid, wherein: the work piece (4) is movedwithin a transfer level and lowered into a working area of a machiningapparatus, especially a forming apparatus (8 a, 8 b), for machining; thework piece is machined in the machining apparatus (8 a, 8 b) from theinside and/or from the outside; the work piece is lowered for machiningwith its longitudinal axis vertically oriented; the work piece is movedwithin the transfer level with its longitudinal axis verticallyoriented; the work piece is lifted after one machining stage and movedback into the transfer level with its longitudinal axis verticallyoriented; and the work piece undergoes a plurality of steps includinglowering, machining and lifting, one after the other, in a plurality ofmachining apparatuses.
 3. A method as defined in claim 2, characterizedin that the work piece is machined in the machining apparatus along itsentire axial length or along a portion thereof.
 4. A method as definedin claim 2, characterized in that the work piece is lowered and machinedin stages of different heights.
 5. A method as defined in claim 2,characterized in that the work piece is produced of sheet steel or sheetmetal, multilayered sized cardboard (fiber) or multilayeredmetal-plastic sheets.
 6. The method defined in claim 2, performed by atransfer apparatus (7) for moving the work piece, and the machiningapparatus for producing or machining the work piece, especially forforming, edging and providing with beads, a bottom and a lid,incorporating means for holding the work piece during the machining inan orientation with a vertical longitudinal axis (1), the transferapparatus (7) being arranged vertically above the machining apparatusand designed such that the work piece (4) that is to be machined can belowered into the working area of the machining apparatus (8 a, 8 b),wherein: the transfer apparatus (7) moves and/or lowers the work piece(4) with its longitudinal axis vertically oriented; the machiningapparatus (8 a, 8 b) machines the work piece (4) from the inside and/oroutside, especially providing it with a double-sided edging or one-sidededging and flanging on the other side; and said plurality of machiningapparatuses is arranged in series and the transfer apparatus (7) movesthe work piece between each of those machining apparatuses by a liftingmovement, a lateral movement and a lowering movement.
 7. A device asdefined in claim 6, characterized in that the machining apparatus (8 a,8 b) provides the work piece (4) with rolled beads and/or reinforcingbeads (2, 3).